CW S/R: 10/4 US S/R: 9/10 (Crazy Vassal) [3 SP Each]Good news is this the first turn of Antwerp repair. Bad news is it won’t be until December I’ll get a +2 bonus to supply. (One of the game designers did write to me saying that the port wasn’t fully functioning until mid-March historically) But I’m not out of the woods yet, very strong Germans in Holland that need to be destroyed in order to secure Antwerp. Solution one; really hammer the Germans in the south if I can take Belfort, Colmar, and Mulhouse and threaten a crossing of the Rhone near Mulheim he’ll have to shift reinforcements and reserves south.

German S/R: 8/6I begin to see my alter-ego’s plan in Belgium. Instead of attacking due north into the Beveland peninsula, he’s going east towards Turnhout (A3112), then if I had to guess swing north and try to trap my units in a pocket. (Dash cunning of myself). And I’ve got serious problems at Belfort. I manage to crawl, crawl mind you, out of the Belfort trap, but if I lose initiative again they’ll just get cut off once more. I need to make short work of the remaining paratroopers on Beverland while I hold off British 8th Army. And the terrain west of Turnhout isn’t exactly ideal for defense. First attack is risky 1-1 very close +1 AR…AL1o1/Do1…not ideal but I have to take the second hit to force the Allies to take one. Really…REALLY want the initiative.

CW S/R: 9/8 US S/R: 6/2 [3 SP North and South, 2 Central]Well it cost me all but two British tokens and a single US token in the North but made good progress killing Germans west of Turnhout (there are more SP in Breskens area but I see them as a separate place from the main front). Patton pretty much sat still this turn saving some SPs. Burn most of the SPs in the south as well to encircle the retreating Germans from Belfort. I’m now able to get SPs into the Beverland peninsula so I can support the units there and prevent them from being considered OoS.

German S/R: 7/6Well I think if I don’t get over the canal on the Beveland peninsula this turn I’ll have to concede the Scheldt Estuary to the Allies. And even then it would take another attack or turn to take the town of Goes. 11th Panzer is surrounded…so that sucks. 4-1 in the Beverland peninsula…got surprise but only 1 shift…and then I roll a ‘4’. Sigh. And the attempt to rescue 11th Panzer failed as well, simply traded REs. Fired artillery TWICE at US 6th Armored and missed twice. Well I’ve lost the battle for the estuary and I’m close to losing the battle for Mulhouse. It’s now time to run…run fast. Downside is even if I win initiative I need to give the Allies the first move so I can take a shot a double move to gain some distance from the Allies.

CW S/R: 6/11 US S/R: 5/9 [2 SP Each]Well clearly the Allies won’t be doing much this turn. I play the Beveland peninsula as if I don’t know the Germans are retreating, so I rebuild a paratrooper battalion in England and ship that and 2Ts to Walcheren Island. I tighten my grip around the surrounded troops near Mulhouse, but lack SPs to move further. Patton takes another hex over the Moselle. British pretty much sit still. Several planes damaged by flak, very disappointing.

German S/R: 8/9Well, all I can say is I’m praying for the initiative and bad weather. Otherwise next turn could be ugly.

CW S/R: 6/8 US S/R: 8/5 [3 SP Each]Well some wild pursuit of the enemy isn’t going to happen I don’t have anywhere near the fuel to run down the Germans. British destroy the German ‘speed-bumps’ north of Antwerp and move towards Bergen op Zoom. US 1st Army moved up its non-divisional assets. Patton moves a few units forward. In the south I destroy the OoS stack blocking the road, because it might take a few turns for an AR ‘5’ to die to attrition. Interdiction planes have a good turn attacking German air bases.

German S/R: 10/6A turn of cloudy weather that’s amazing, but the fuel shortage don’t help a retreating army. Cost nearly 8 SPs to move everyone this turn. Especially expensive in Holland, have about 2 SP left, and I’m sticking to my guns and not touching my Wacht am Rhein stockpile. Been saving 2 SPs per turn at Dusseldorf, because moving and attacking with 7+ panzer divisions is expensive. Not much to report this turn, just fall back and prepare for the next big Allied plan. Tempted to launch a minor counter attack but I’m trying, perhaps foolishly, to bolster my numerous 2-3 AR units with my quality armor units.

CW S/R: 7/6 US S/R: 4/10 [2 SP Each](First thing is to exchange the one of my two British 3rd Divisions for the correct 3rd Canadian division counter.) The supply situation for the Americans is awful, barely 4 SPs per zone. I think I’ll just sit still for a turn and save up for a turn, especially with the 1T requirement for fuel this turn. Actually I gave it some thought and spent half this turns SPs either building or upgrading airbases for the Americans, mud weather will be coming soon, and cut my off board boxes in half so I’ll need some level three air bases to pick up the slack. I also start saving some US PAX in England to rebuild my battered airborne force, and those units are expensive. British are the only ones to move this turn attacking towards Bergen op Zoom. (Again this turn proves the Vassal low/high waves of die rolls. During my air attacks this turn nearly a dozen rolls and almost all of them ‘7’ or under. Then moved on to my ground attacks and rolled 9, 9, 10, 8 in a row.) Take Bergen op Zoom and exploit as well but reduce the British down to 2Ts of SP. I throw a single Luftwaffe regiment at the British in Holland to meet the requirements of Hitler Interferes, and it dies as gloriously as intended.

German S/R: 7/8Well to be honest that wasn’t too bad. I was worried about a mad dash pursuit of my retreating forces, but my alter ego stays the course and focuses on Beveland peninsula. The withdrawal of the SS units leaves a bit of a gap in the Ardennes but the Allies aren’t pressing forward in the area so I feel secure at getting units into the area to man the West Wall. My line in Holland and northern Belgium looks good, they’re ready to go another round in the Allies. It’s the far south that worries the most. But until more reinforcements arrive I can only keep my fingers crossed.

German S/R: 12/7Wish those rolls had been reversed. Well it was a very quick turn as most of my units were already in position or near enough. Not more to add than what I said last turn. Only downside was the last of my troops on Beveland peninsula died of attrition which I’m sure is what my other self was going for.

CW S/R: 7/8 US S/R: 6/12 [3 SP Each] (So many boxcars this game)That was exactly what I was going for. Now I don’t have to fight to clear Beveland, trace supply can just flow to my paratroopers and rangers. The Allies are grateful for those replacement rolls as several air squadrons needed to flipped over. Well with the Scheldt Estuary completely cleared it’s time to reorganize the Commonwealth forces for the next stage. 1st Canadian Army (including the Poles and Dutch) will clear and guard the approaches to Northern Holland. British 8th Corp for advancing to Tilburg then Hertogenbosch. British 12th Corp is tasked with Eindhoven and on to Grave. And lastly 30th Corp will go after Weert then Roermond. Oh and British 1st Corp will go to Brussels to handle rebuilding units. All of this is still limited by supplies and will have to be done in stages. US 1st Army doesn’t do to much. Patton decides to burn through his supply and send two armored divisions at the eastern branch of the Moselle River. Get across and manage to exploit against the German reserve artillery. Costly in terms of supply, but those open ground hexes to the east look inviting to Patton’s tanks. US 7th Army moves into Epinal and prepares to go into the Vosges Mountains. French 1st Army is only slightly successful gain a single hex from the Germans. German flak damaged four squadrons this turn, most annoying. But destroyed two German fighter squadrons on the ground including the Me-262 unit.

CW S/R: 8/11 US S/R: 9/8 [3 SP Each] (Must have gotten a high swing with Vassal, bet my air attacks are weak)Well the muddy ground conditions are unfortunate but overall Patton’s position with several DGed German hexes demands I go first. The rest of the front is pretty quiet not wanting to waste fuel. Only real movement is British 8th Corp moving towards Tilburg, and the two new US divisions moving strategically. Patton’s forces don’t really go far but do manage to widen the gap between Nancy and Metz. And there aren’t that many German units to fill into the space. The only placed I really used my planes this turn was attempting train-busting missions south of Metz, but all four missed their targets.

German S/R: 2/5 (Didn’t prime the dice)There isn’t a bad roll for German supply though. Unless your supply status dips below an eight you’ll get an ok amount of SPs. Replacements though are very important. And my poor rolling there could become problematic in the long run, as I’ve only had two rolls that were 9 or higher for replacements all game. The mud doesn’t help my withdrawal efforts around Metz and Nancy. We all slowly move towards the West Wall south of the Ardennes. Otherwise a quiet turn.

CW S/R: 7/4 US S/R: 6/9 [4 SP Central, 3 SP North and South]Working south to north. French are sitting still for now. Time to supply. 7th Army begins moving into the Vosges Mountains but really doesn’t have the SPs to attack. (Another minor problem for me with BtR is Nancy being on the south map falls into 7th Army’s ‘jurisdiction’ and not Patton’s, which is pretty unhistorical.) Patton is also low on SPs and really only moves forward infantry and Corp assets.

German S/R: 10/2So after nearly four-five weeks of not playing this solo game I’m trying to remember wtf I was doing. So I don’t do too much over all. I try…try mind you to plan an attack against US 6th Armored only to watch as reserve American artillery blast my formations to pieces. Starting to burn my wealth of SPs on hedgehog construction. Hope I’m this fuzzy with the Allies. Place three Reserve counters on the turn track because I don’t want to follower Hitler’s attack orders.

(Also wonder if I was actually done with the Allied turn when I last played seeing how their entire Air Force is in the ready box.)

German S/R: 11/5Darn it! I’m planning an Allied double turn I just know it. Well since I don’t have any more of an idea of what to do with the Germans than I did 40 minutes ago I imagine it will be a quick turn. Yeah, it’s more of the waiting around wishing I had 5-6 more panzer divisions to play with. Again spending SPs to dig in.

CW S/R: 7/8 US S/R: 9/5 [4 SP Central, 3 SP North and South]It takes some time to appreciate my supply situation. And in the end I decide US 1st Army and British 30th Corp are going on the attack. Patton and 6th Army Group need to stock up. Allied air power is staggering, DG eight target hexes including three behind the line reserve stacks (granted one of those was Aachen with 7 REs in it). Well the British and US 1st Army spent a LOT of SPs, but it was worth it. Both formations managed to get across their respective river barriers and killed a large number of Germans. Area north of Aachen is in real trouble as a large number of West Wall hexes are upgrade but empty of German troops.

(I blame this on the large gap of time since previous play, and even with two turns I didn’t really bother to inspect the Aachen hex.)

Another bit of good news is the first hex of Antwerp is completely repaired, so a nice +1 Supply column shift.